Immigration Blog

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Last Thursday, President Obama announced a plan to help fix the immigration system through his executive authority that includes additional resources on the ground and elsewhere to secure the border, streamline the court process, and add more protections for crime victims.

What do these announcements mean for U.S. business and foreign workers, however? The announcement contained several measures designed to promote a more competitive destination for skilled workers, reduce major backlogs that force talent to leave, and modify outdated programs to better align with our modern...

In recognition of Veterans Day last week, Wilson Law Group would like to send a reminder of important benefits available to certain members of the military and family of service members.

MAVNI - Direct Path to U.S. Citizenship

MAVNI stands for “Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest.” MAVNI may be a quick path to U.S. citizenship for certain eligible foreign nations because it skips the permanent residency (“green card”) process altogether.

The MAVNI program started as a pilot program to allow certain branches of the U.S. military to recruit and enlist foreign nationals...

WLG is pleased to announce that Jaclyn E. Campoli is now an Associate Attorney at Wilson Law Group! Jaclyn, who specializes in immigration law, recently passed the MN bar and was sworn in as a fully licensed attorney by the state of MN.

Citizenship offers substantially more benefits than permanent residency. Here are a few of the many reasons to naturalize:

Risk of abandonment

Permanent residents can travel internationally, but must be cautious about spending too much time outside of the U.S. If you spend a year outside of the U.S., you will be presumed to have abandoned your permanent residency, and you risk being placed in removal proceedings and possibly deported.

Even those permanent residents who have spent less than a year outside the U.S. might be accused of abandoning residency. Unfortunately, there is no...

WLG's latest installment of our newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of criminal and immigration law, has arrived! You may read the full article below or view the full PDF here: 198-167-wilson-law-group-newsletter-arrests-non-citizens-and-right-consular-notification.did-law-enforcement-comply.pdf

Arrests of Non-citizens and the Right to Consular Notification: Did Law Enforcement Comply?

Welcome to the latest Wilson Law Group Newsletter. In this edition, we focus on the right foreign nationals have to speak with a representative from his or her consulate upon arrest or...

We are happy to report that Wilson Law Group received a “TPS as status” adjustment approval from the USCIS office in Bloomington, Minnesota. The person never traveled with parole, and relied exclusively on this TPS status to assert he could proceed under section 245 to adjustment his status to a lawfully admitted permanent resident with an approved immediate relative I-130 petition. This is a complete change in the government's approach to temporary protected status and the ability to apply for residency.

Now, one approval is not a pattern of acquiescence; however, it is a harbinger...

The short answer is that visa numbers are limited and there’s a substantial waitlist.

Congress capped the number of U visas at 10,000 per year (INA § 214(p)(2); 8 C.F.R. § 214.14(d)(1)). This means that only 10,000 applicants may be granted U visas each fiscal year. Only principal applicants (U-1) are counted toward the 10,000 visa cap. Derivatives (U-2, U-3, U-4, and U-5) are not counted towards the cap. A backlog has developed because the demand for U visas exceeds the supply.

If you apply for a U visa today, you can expect to wait at least nine months for USCIS to determine whether...

Wilson Law Group is separating fact from fiction in a series of blogs to clarify some common questions and misconceptions of various topics in immigration law. The short answer to the question above is "maybe". There are several requirements for a U visa; each situation is different and needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

To be clear, being a victim of a crime alone does not qualify someone for a U visa. It is more complicated than that. Being a victim of a crime is just one of several requirements to qualify for a U visa. Before discussing the requirements,...

The news has been rife with headlines about President Obama taking executive action on immigration reform. If he does take action, whom would it affect and when would it occur?

Like many years before, the Congress talked extensively about immigration reform this year, but failed to take any action. What is different now is that President Obama has stated he will takesome sort of action on his own.

So, what can the President do without the Congress’s approval, and who will it affect?

The President cannot unilaterally change who can become a legal permanent resident or a citizen. He...

Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the availability of limited immigration relief measures to nationals of three West African countries affected by the current Ebola virus outbreak. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013. The virus has since spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone and become the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. Experts report 2,473 suspected or confirmed cases, including 1,350 deaths, prompting WHO to declare a public health emergency of international concern.